The purchase of Rex

On the 17th February 1967 the purchase of the REX group of companies is announced. This includes the Rederi AB Rex, Transoil, Bratt-Götha companies and TOR Line. This is one of the biggest shipping company mergers until this time in Sweden. The acquisition was initiated by Marcus Wallenberg at the Enskilda Bank. Prior to the acquisition “dry-loads” had not been its own shipping company, but with the help of the Suez crisis the acquisition of Rex became a tentative start for the Salén Shipping Company’s “dry-load” operations. The turnover for the whole group of companies is anticipated to be a billion SEK after the merger and the following year the group overtakes Sweden’s, until then, biggest shipping company, Broströms, in tonnage. The acquisition also included TOR Line that runs combined goods and passenger traffic on the North Sea using for that time, the new ro-ro, roll on/roll off ferries. The concept can be recognised in today’s giant ferries, with bars that open as soon as the ship leaves port, tax- free, dance and musical entertainment. All this had the novelty of being new in 1967, but the shipping company is no major success in economic terms.